September 24, 2012 Monday Night RAW
The September 24, 2012 Edition of RAW is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's RAW brand, which took place on September 24, 2012 at Times Union Center in Albany, New York. Episode summary WWE Champion CM Punk confronted referee Brad Maddox, Paul Heyman proposed to Raw GM AJ Lee Raw kicked off not with a bang, but with a sit-in, as the cameras opened up on WWE Champion CM Punk and his associate, Paul Heyman, staging their own miniature protest and occupying the squared circle in an act of civil disobedience. "We will not be leaving until justice is served," Heyman pontificated, referring to Punk's dubious loss to John Cena the previous week, a defeat that occurred despite The Second City Saint having reached the ropes with his foot while the referee counted to three. With his evidence presented, Heyman demanded that the official, Brad Maddox, make his way to the ring, admit his error, and tender his resignation live on Raw. After a brief pause, Maddox made his presence known, looking for all the world like a sheep on its way to the slaughter. The young referee faced Heyman's fire admirably, offering up an apology for bungling his first main event. Maddox balked, however, at the mad scientist of Extreme's demand that he tender his resignation. This brought The Second City Saint to his feet, venom spewing forth as CM Punk berated the referee for "embarrassing" both himself and the WWE Champion live on Raw. "Who are you?" Punk sneered, which brought forth the explanation: Maddox was a new referee, brought to Raw by General Manager AJ Lee after Raw expanded to three hours. Or, as Heyman put it, "you're a scab!" before presenting Maddox with a gift: a sleep mask with the WWE logo over one eye and the NFL emblem covering the other. Before the public shaming could continue, however, AJ skipped down to the ring and excused Maddox for the time being, and a brief back-and-forth with Heyman led to Punk re-entering the fray. With tensions mounting, Punk cued up his own piece of footage: AJ's left-field marriage proposal to The Second City Saint from Raw two months earlier. "That's the reason ... you sent an incompetent referee out to screw me last week," Punk continued, laughing in AJ's face. "You forget last week's match ever happened and I'll forget the hundreds of text messages and voicemails you left me that I'm not fit to air on the USA Network." With AJ getting more than a little red in the face, Heyman stepped in again, offering to help navigate the choppy waters the WWE Champion suddenly found himself in. Heyman's solution: marry him! (they didn't call him the mad scientist for nothing). "Think about all the power couples we're gonna trump!" Heyman shrieked from down on one knee. Heyman's genius took a left-field turn when he insinuated that he would come up with all the ideas and AJ could take the credit. For the grand finale, Heyman lasciviously sneered that "I like 'em dumb, young and ambitious," which brought forth a vicious slap across the face from Miss Lee. Kofi Kingston vs Dolph Ziggler Twitter animosity runneth over on Raw when The Showoff Dolph Ziggler clashed with former WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston Monday night in a contest spewing from a heated exchange the two had over the weekend across social media platforms (tweet responsibly, WWE Universe). Kofi, in particular, had taken Dolph to task over his series of losses against World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus, but it was Ziggler who had the last laugh on Raw when he picked up a thrilling win over the Boom Squad General. It was a minor miracle that the match even happened at all, though: Before the bout even started, Vickie Guerrero and R-Truth were ejected from ringside after Vickie mocked Little Jimmy, earning her a faceful of soda from either Kofi, Truth or some combination of the two. Cue instant replay! The match itself turned out to be as high-intensity and thrilling as the WWE Universe might expect from the two dynamos; Ziggler and Kingston have clashed often in the ring and the Superstars' familiarity with each other's movesets kept the match tight. Ziggler did, however, bust out a new maneuver in a reverse powerslam that left Kofi out on his feet, opening the door for Dolph to continue his technical dismantling of the former Tag Champion. Ziggler himself ironically gave Kofi the opening that nearly tilted the match in the highflier's favor, missing a splash into the corner and giving Kofi the separation needed to fell The Showoff with a Boom Drop. Dolph's attempts to rally were stymied by Kofi, and an S.O.S. nearly sealed the contest before the two began trading top rope strikes. Back and forth went Ziggler and Kofi, each taking to the skies before Kofi finally connected with a punishing crossbody that pancaked Mr. Money in the Bank onto the canvas. It still wasn't enough to kick Dolph to the curb, though, as The Showoff rallied and wrenched Kofi to his back with the Zig Zag for the three-count. Layla & Alicia Fox vs Eve Torres & Beth Pheonix The Divas Champion continued her winning ways in a tag team match on Raw, but it was the former No. 1 contender who made the biggest waves on Monday night. Eve took to the ring alongside Beth Phoenix for a tag match against Layla & Alicia Fox, and the champion made quick work of her challengers alongside the powerhouse Glamazon, with Eve eventually scoring the deciding pinfall over Alicia Fox. But the two were only left a few moments to celebrate their victory before Kaitlyn made her way to the top of the stage. Her foot encased in a walking boot, the former No. 1 contender to the Divas Title revealed that she'd gotten her hands on the Night of Champions security footage, hoping to catch a glimpse of her attacker. Alas, the tape didn't capture a look at her assailant's face, but Kaitlyn did see enough to tell the mysterious attacker was a blonde. The Divas Champion took matters into her own hands by felling the only blonde within reach: Beth Phoenix. Time will tell whether Eve had gotten her hands on the right Diva, but the matter remains seemingly settled. For now. Big Show attacked Brodus Clay and Tensai The WWE Universe got a taste of a Brodus Clay–Tensai confrontation during the Night of Champions Pre-Show Battle Royal ... and a taste is all they'll have for the time being, as the anticipated first battle between the two big men found itself interrupted by a returning giant. The Funkasaurus and the monstrous expatriate were in the middle of a furious back-and-forth, shaking the ring with their power attacks when Big Show's music hit. His presence as awesome as ever, The World's Largest Athlete stalked down to the ring, but he wasn't much for words in his first Raw in weeks. He did, however, raise eyebrows when he clobbered both Tensai and Brodus with the WMD, leaving the titanic Superstars prone on the mat before taking his leave. Clearly, one does not necessarily need words to make a statement. Results * Singles Match: Dolph Ziggler (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated Kofi Kingston (w/ R-Truth) * Tag Team Match: Eve Torres & Beth Phoenix defeated Layla & Alicia Fox Media Category:2012 television episodes Category:RAW episodes Category:AJ Lee Category:Episodes featuring Vickie Guerrero Category:Layla Category:Alicia Fox Category:Episodes featuring Eve Torres Category:Beth Phoenix Category:Kaitlyn Category:Episodes featuring Naomi Category:Cameron Category:WWE television episodes